A group of Iranian intellectuals has criticised Iran for hosting a conference that questioned the killing of six million Jews by the Nazis.
The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has described the Holocaust as a "myth", hosted the meeting in December, saying it wanted to allow researchers from countries where it is a crime to question the Holocaust to speak freely.
A letter circulated on the Internet that was signed by 23 academics, writers and artists stated: "We the signatories of this letter are of the opinion that such 'conferences', more than anything, harm the academic image of the Iranian universities."
They said the government used human suffering in the Holocaust to make "political points".
"We believe that conferences like this do not help the cause of the Palestinian people and only provide pretexts for the warmongers in the region," said the open letter, which was posted on the website of rights activist Emadeddin Baghi, one of the more prominent signatories.
About half the signatories are based in Iran with others based in the United States and elsewhere, the letter said.
Mr Ahmadinejad has accused the West and Zionists of using the Holocaust to justify the creation of the state of Israel at the expense of Palestinians.
The letter said the conference did not meet requirements for an academic forum and criticised the "appalling speech" presented by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
It added that "the undermining or denial of human suffering for the sake of making political points - whatever they might be - will inevitably lead to moral degeneration.